MAP20: Speedtraps for the Bee Kingdom (BTSX-E2)

MAP20: Speedtraps for the Bee Kingdom is the twentieth map of the second episode of Back to Saturn X. It was designed by Richard Frei (Tarnsman) and Sarah Mancuso (esselfortium), the latter of whom composed the music track, "Ether."

Essentials
It is possible to complete the level with only the red key, but you can trap yourself by doing so (see Bugs). You can also exit with only the blue and yellow keys.

Red key
Drop into the river below and head straight forward to a large columned structure. Take the plasma gun at the entrance and go down the steps to a junction, turn left and follow the corridor all the way to the end to find a switch. Pull the switch to lower a wall to your left and step past it to drop down to a chamber with imps then go to the south side to find a medikit and two energy cells - doing so will lower the north-west wall to reveal a hallway. Enter the hallway and follow it round to a switch, ready to kill any chaingunners, Hell knights and revenants hiding in the outer wall, then pull the switch to open the center block and reveal four knights and a baron of Hell. Stepping on the red flesh-floor will activate four crushers but will also reveal another switch in the east wall; pull that switch to reveal a third switch in the south-west corner, which will re-open the room entrance and allow you to leave.

Head through the now-open south wall to enter a massive marble structure with a central slime pool, which is defended by cacodemons and pain elementals (plus two arch-viles on Ultra-Violence (UV) and Nightmare (NM) skill levels), then head south past some arachnotrons until you reach a room with a central column surrounded by candles. Do not go in here, but instead head east into a room with a rocket launcher (guarded by knights on Hurt Me Plenty (HMP) or higher) before proceeding west and north up several flights of steps until you can drop into a tall chamber with lava. As you drop into the room four crushers will activate above the rock islands in the center - go to the north-east corner to find an arch-vile guarding an invulnerability (or megasphere on HMP or higher) and a switch that will release imps and/or revenants and knights into the room. Enter the south-west compartment to find a crucifix button that will open a wall in the south-east corner revealing a lift.

Activate the aforementioned lift and kill a baron waiting on it, then go up and follow the ledge round to a teleporter that will put you in an enclosed space with a shotgun; you are standing on top of the column in the candle room, and pulling the switch in front of you will lower it like a lift. Wait for the lift to go up again before leaping to the raised doorway on the west side, then follow the walkway round until you encounter a pain elemental and one or two arch-viles who are guarding a button that will raise some steps to a teleporter. Enter the teleporter then go up some more steps to find an arachnotron guarding a switch, which will raise a bridge on the west side of the marble structure but will also allow more arachnotrons and cacodemons to teleport in. Drop into the slime and head north to some steps that will allow you to climb out, then head across the bridge you just raised to reach an arachnotron protecting a supercharge.

Head up the steps and look in the north-west corner of the next room for a crucifix button, which will lower the south wall and bring in knights and revenants (plus an arch-vile on HMP or higher). Activate the lift behind the knights and kill two mancubi standing on it, then activate a second lift behind them and ride this up to the top to enter a tunnel. Follow the tunnel to a green ledge, watching out for revenants (along with knights on HMP and barons on UV and NM) that are released around you, then head south into another tunnel where you will need to avoid crushers along with chaingunners that are released to your left (and revenants to your right on UV and NM). Once you get outside again, head through the next area to a rocky ledge then leap across a small gap to a curved staircase, then follow the path until you drop down a hole. You will see a tall column in front of you holding the red skull key, as well as a switch to your right - the switch lowers the column, but you will have to fight off cacodemons and arachnotrons while waiting for it to descend.

Blue key
Taking the red key will lower the south wall and reveal three chaingunners guarding a teleporter; after entering that teleporter, walk straight forward to drop into a valley near the curved steps you just climbed. Follow the valley east then north into a short tunnel, but step out quickly to avoid an ambush by knights (and revenants on UV and NM). Once the path is clear, enter the next room and pull the switch here to lower a lift behind you, ride it up then make a running jump to the nearby ledge. Follow the path until you pass through a wooden building, then drop off the cliffs to land in a river that you can follow south and west to a tunnel blocked by cacodemons. Fight your way through to see the blue skull key on an altar ahead and go up the steps to collect it; when you do, the entrance will be sealed and two monster closets holding knights and barons will open on either side of the cavern. Enter the west closet and flip the switch inside it to re-open the entrance so you can leave.

Go back to the river and head due east to a narrow marble opening, then pass through here to see a knight standing on a teleporter. Enter the teleporter to return to the wooden building on the cliff, then follow the path north and west down some steps to another teleporter that will send you to a new area south-east of the starting point. Pass through the north doorway, then continue going north through a tunnel and up some steps to a room with colored bars - these lead to the exit once you are ready to leave. From here you can proceed north and west to return to the starting point.

Yellow key
From the starting point, follow the river west and south into a cavern with waterfalls. Head around the west side of the cavern to drop down to a berserk pack then pass through the archway, noting two arch-viles that are waiting to your left and right, then go forward to a room with two mancubi that are protecting a switch; when you approach the switch you will activate a crusher directly above you. Pull the switch to reveal a second switch in the south-east corner, then pull that switch as well to reveal a teleporter in the south-west corner that allows you to exit. Climb the steps, ready to kill some shotgun guys and/or chaingunners that appear behind the windows, then kill a mancubus waiting at the top before heading north past a couple of revenants and pain elementals to a cavern with a rocket launcher.

Go up the steps to a clearing with some wooden buildings, then enter the west building to find a supercharge and a button that will open the other structures to reveal revenants, two arch-viles and an arachnotron. Climb up to the north building and press another button inside it, then go back to the west building to see that the south wall has opened to reveal another cavern. Climb the steps to a rope bridge and cross it, then carefully walk round the ledge to a teleporter that will place you inside the building on the floor above. Press the button in front of you to go up to the yellow skull key, but watch out for an arch-vile that is revealed when you collect it.

Exit
When you have enough keys, return to the room with colored bars east of the starting point and open the bars on the west side to reveal some switches that will open the corresponding bars behind you. Go through the doorway to collect a chaingun, kill an arch-vile blocking your way (on UV and NM) then go down the steps to a pool overlooked by arachnotrons. Head south until you reach a patch of grass, go up the steps here and head north past a mancubus until you reach a column with a megasphere and some energy cell packs next to it. Continue following the path up the cliffs, fighting off any cacodemons that teleport in, until you reach a lift that goes up to an arch-vile then enter the wooden building on this level and approach the marble door to make it open automatically. Go through and head down the steps to collect a BFG9000, then blast the zombieman that lowers ahead of you to get to the exit switch.

Secrets

 * 1) In the enormous nukage grotto with the grey stone structures, drop to the east and head south. There is a teleporter in the nukage that will warp you to a small room barred off with stone pillars (sector 1358) with a megasphere and two energy cells. Approaching the pillars causes them to lower so you can get out.
 * 2) After you're done with the lava arena with the crushing ceiling at the south-east end of the map, enter the teleporter to be warped to the stone pillar south of the nukage grotto. Hit the switch to lower it, but don't step off; instead, wait for it to rise back up, then jump off south to the balcony with the revenant; if you fail, there is a button nearby (revealed after finishing the lava arena) that lowers the pillar. There is a teleporter there that will take you to the pillar (sector 452) in the middle of the great stone hall (telefragging the mancubus atop it if it's still alive), where you can collect an invulnerability.
 * 3) In the H-shaped room with the crusher south of the starting area, the exit is a teleporter with a supercharge behind it. To grab it, use the teleporter, then turn around and drop down to land behind the teleporter and on the supercharge. (sector 1059)
 * 4) At the very west in the nukage canyon, there is a teleporter. Take it and drop to the right where you can and search the rock wall for an open nook (sector 106) with two energy cell packs and a BFG9000.
 * 5) From the tower with the yellow key, hop to the east to reach a cliffside (sector 1351) with a supercharge.
 * 6) Drop to the water basin north of the rocky staircase after the locked passage. Go through the waterfall to the east to find a cavern (sector 186) with a teleporter that leads you to a supercharge visible from where the key switches are located. The edge of the cliff teleports you to a high cliff face near where the blue key was, where you can collect two boxes of shotgun shells. Reach the edge again and you will be warped a third time, this time to a megaarmor, and again to a veranda near the red key's location, with four boxes of rockets and a lozenge switch that lowers the red key if you haven't already done it the regular way. Heading through the door sends you to another veranda with two energy cell packs, and from here you'll warp to a cave with an invulnerability. The exit of this cave warps you to a third veranda with no items, and from here you will finally be deposited at the watery valley at the east end of the map near the stairs where you started.

Bugs
It is possible to complete the level by getting only the red key. However, if you go to the passage locked with colored bars without visiting the yellow key area and then proceed to secret #6, after a few warps you will find yourself trapped in a veranda after telefragging an arachnotron, without a way to leave. It is situated in the area with other verandas containing arch-viles and revenants, which all are opened by a switch outside.

The large southeast crusher room (the one containing thing 109) has a high likelihood of producing ghost monsters due to arch-viles having access to crushed corpses.

Current records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The (absence of) data was last verified in its entirety on February 21, 2022.

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level:

Trivia

 * This map runs into blockmap limits and required special optimizations to remain compatible with the vanilla Doom engine. However, said optimizations are not compatible with some changes in the blockmap loading code in Boom and some other ports which introduced a bug. For this reason, the archive contains a separate wad file with a different version of the map that does not make use of this blockmap optimization but consequently requires a limit-removing port. The level's name in the official add-on version alludes to these blockmap compatibility troubles.